Projects

Optimization of the immune response against transferrin receptor based vaccines

The bacterial transferrin receptor is considered to be a potentially efficacious candidate vaccine antigen against pathogens important in human disease and in animal husbandry. Previous data suggests that transferrin receptor-based antigens can elicit protection from both invasive disease and potentially from asymptomatic colonization. One major consideration when developing vaccines is the choice of adjuvant, a component able to influence the intensity, quality and breadth of the immune response. In order to evaluate potential adjuvants, panels of adjuvants representing diverse immunological effects will be chosen and evaluated in established mouse models reflecting respiratory and genital mucosal infection and invasive disease. Additionally, we will work to establish mouse models of agriculturally important animal pathogens using novel transgenic mouse lines that expresses either porcine or bovine transferrin, enabling the more economical and higher throughput evaluation of potential antigens through the use of a smaller animal model. TO BE CONT'D